“He Saved Others”—and He Saved Me!

Millions of Christians around the world are worshiping their Lord in a special way this weekend. The world with its Easter bunnies thinks we are strange. Stupid, in fact—how could the death of a poor carpenter 2,000 years ago give joy and purpose to our lives today, and then secure heaven for us with God in eternity?

To the world, the nicest thing to be said about Christ on the cross is this: He was a very good man having a very bad day. But we who believe in Jesus understand what was happening on Good Friday: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not counting our trespasses against us” (2 Cor. 5:19).

Like many of you, this weekend I’m reading again the Gospel account of our Lord’s death and resurrection. Each time something new seems to pop into focus, doesn’t it? This morning I’m captured by the irony of something Christ’s mocking enemies said in Luke 23:35 as He hung on the cross:

“And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!’”

“He saved others?” You betcha—He sure did! He saved me!

Overwhelmed at the delightful irony of that reality, I started laughing and crying at the same time. The world no doubt would consider that foolish. And that’s OK! Paul joyfully proclaimed, “We are fools for Christ’s sake” (1 Cor. 4:10). And “the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength” (1 Cor. 1:25).